Carry my heavy skis for me

[Electricwoman]

I love my Nordica Santa Ana skis and Tyrolia Protector bindings for handling anything on the slopes, any season. It's a really heavy setup which is part of why they work so well for my aging body. Hauling them uphill to the lift or gondola base often takes the starch right out of me before the day even begins. Anyone have a good carrier solution for this problem? My backcountry pack would work great, but it's usually not accepted in the inbounds resorts where I ski downhill. I'm hoping for something collapsible/lightweight that I can wear all day or put in a pocket once I get on the hill.

 

[marzNC]

I'm hoping for something collapsible/lightweight that I can wear all day or put in a pocket once I get on the hill.

Check out The Ski Pack. Invented by a 4th grader. I met her and her mother at Snowbound Expo a few years ago. Bought one the first time I saw it.

I'm petite and well over 65 at this point. Carrying skis back to the parking lot when not staying slopeside has always been the most tiring part of the ski day. Tried more than one "carrier" option in the last couple decades. Even though I'm in better shape than a decade ago (more year round ski conditioning), I take the Ski Pack along for every ski trip just in case. Have also used it doing short in-bounds hikes at Alta and Wolf Creek.

Note that if I'm driving to a parking lot, I always arrive early to get a good parking spot. Since I mostly boot up in a lodge, I may carry my skis to a rack near a base lift before going back for my ski boot backpack. For someone booting up at the car, that extra step wouldn't be needed.

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[marzNC]

Here's a picture of the inventor of The Ski Pack when she was in middle school. Her mother sewed the first version for her and her three siblings after she came up with idea as a 4th grade project. They ski in the northeast. Other parents were very interested. The first version was only for kids. Even though I'm shorter than many middle schoolers, the kid version is too small for my adult bindings.



During an early season trip to Winter Park, I used The Ski Pack and just carried my boots to the locker room. We took a shuttle bus between the base and the free parking lot. I use a 9L backpack for larger resorts to avoid having to stuff my jacket pockets. When I have that backpack and hike inbounds, I put it in front when carrying skis in back.

 

[Aerlind]

I have and have used both of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHL7HR3Q?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_5 (great for in-bounds hiking too...)

Amazon.com

(I know it says unavailable, but maybe you can find something similar?)

Both fold down and can be shoved in a jacket pocket very easily.

 

[marzNC]

I used a strap carrier called the Mountain Goat for a while. The Ski Pack is MUCH easier to set up, especially in cold windy conditions. Getting skis into the Mountain Goat wasn't worth it for me just for the walk between the car and the parking lot . . . when over 60.

 

[marzNC]

Another factor for me is that I can't comfortably carry skis on a shoulder at 5'0". The relatively short BP88s I got this season are the first skis that stay on my shoulder since they are relatively light and the balance point is in the right place.

 

[Amplify]

Like @marzNC, I have used the Ski Pack for several years. I'm 5' tall and I absolutely find the process of hauling all of our gear, food, etc to/from the lodge to be the most exhausting and demoralizing part of any ski day; the packs are the MVP of my ability to reliably get to the slope without losing my will to live, despite being outnumbered by kids. I have one for me and one for each of my kids, who have been carrying their own skis in them since the younger was 4. The packs hold up well – I just had to buy a new one because my 11-year old sized out of his kids’ size pack and needed a larger one, but that’s the only “replacement” I’ve had to buy since first purchasing four years ago, and we use/abuse them pretty heavily. I especially like that they’re breathable enough that I don’t worry excessively about trapping a bit of snow/ice inside with the ski for the drive home or whatever.

I also like that in a pinch they allow me to sling a pair of skis (or a couple pairs lol) over a shoulder and carry kind of like a duffel bag. Handy for short-haul annoying things like dragging stuff out to load the car, or other “gear management” situations - I can get all three pairs of skis and all three pairs of poles in one trip, and still manage opening doors etc, which would not be remotely doable otherwise. Like MarzNC, if I need to carry a backpack for the trek from the car to the lodge, I wear that on my front and the skis on my back. Occasionally while I’m walking, the skis will bump against my calves which in turn bumps the top of the skis against my helmet, a minor irritation. I just use this as an extra reason to encourage my kids to just wear their helmets to/from the car (versus insisting on taking everything off and then stuffing their balaclava/gloves/etc inside their helmet and carrying it like a purse/swinging it to and fro and likely losing a glove in the process while also ending up mad that their hands/face are cold/whatever).

 

[Amplify]

Ski pack at age 4 lol:

 

[Amplify]

Ski packs at ages 10 and 7 (stairs are prime helmet-banging terrain for the ski packs, but even in this worst-possible situation it's a fairly minor, non-ranking irritation even when my whiny kids have just finished skiing first chair to last). The lime green pack shown in both photos is on track to last that kid at least through next winter when he will be 9, not sure it will make it to age 10 as his feet are shockingly huge; the pink one I just handed down to a friend this year due to sizing:

 

[marzNC]

Occasionally while I’m walking, the skis will bump against my calves which in turn bumps the top of the skis against my helmet, a minor irritation.

Note that my skis are diagonal in the picture with the backpack in front. I learned that trick using the Mountain Goat straps for a short in-bounds hike. I set up one shoulder strap slightly longer than the other.

 

[marzNC]

Ski packs at ages 10 and 7 (stairs are prime helmet-banging terrain for the ski packs, but even in this worst-possible situation it's a fairly minor, non-ranking irritation even when my whiny kids have just finished skiing first chair to last). The lime green pack shown in both photos is on track to last that kid at least through next winter when he will be 9, not sure it will make it to age 10 as his feet are shockingly huge; the pink one I just handed down to a friend this year due to sizing:View attachment 26699

That picture reminds me of the first walk I did from the Bridger Bowl parking lot before I figured out how the base lodges were set up. Unlike New England, there aren't usually that many steps just to get to the level of a base lift in the Rockies.

Can't imagine taking 4 kids skiing on a day trip, as the mother of the inventor did for years.

 

[Amplify]

Note that my skis are diagonal in the picture with the backpack in front. I learned that trick using the Mountain Goat straps for a short in-bounds hike. I set up one shoulder strap slightly longer than the other.

This is a great tip! I always just kind of ooch the skis into a diagonal position away from my helmet but never thought to solidify the angle in the straps lol. Then you can put the shorter strap on first and the longer one second to make it an easy routine!

 

[Amplify]

That picture reminds me of the first walk I did from the Bridger Bowl parking lot before I figured out how the base lodges were set up. Unlike New England, there aren't usually that many steps just to get to the level of a base lift in the Rockies.

Can't imagine taking 4 kids skiing on a day trip, as the mother of the inventor did for years.

Yeah this is the stair-heaviest trek we semi-regularly do - you may recognize it! It's the stairs back up to the parking lot from the lodge at Montage, during some mid-spring skiing last year. Montage makes me dream of skiing "free" ie not having a bag with lunch, snacks, extra gloves, extra socks, etc stashed in the lodge, plus kids who definitely need to hit the bathroom before the drive home, because then I would just take the Phoebe Snow lift up after last run and step out of my skis and walk directly into the lot. But no. Stairway to heaven it is.

 

[HappyPlace]

Note that my skis are diagonal in the picture with the backpack in front. I learned that trick using the Mountain Goat straps for a short in-bounds hike. I set up one shoulder strap slightly longer than the other.

I was wondering why they were off to the side in the photo. I thought it didn't do a good job of keeping them upright, but now I understand that it was done purposely.

 

[wernerslab]

n. I just use this as an extra reason to encourage my kids to just wear their helmets to/from the car (versus insisting on taking everything off and then stuffing their balaclava/gloves/etc inside their helmet and carrying it like a purse/swinging it to and fro and likely losing a glove in the process while also ending up mad that their hands/face are cold/whatever).

Lol, I feel like I've lived this except with just one kid instead of 4!

I find the schlepping of all our stuff from the house to the car and back at end of day to be one of the least joyful parts bc of wanting to make one trip but not have enough hands. Sounds like this might just solve that problem.

 

[Electricwoman]

Thanks to my Ski Diva contributors, I used the Pure Mountain Fun contact form to ask about their return policy - which I don't see on the website. The slot at the bottom of The Ski Pack looks (on the website) to be too small for my fat skis (Santa Ana 93) to slide through. If it doesn't work for me I'd want to be able to return it. No answer so far.

 

[marzNC]

The hole where the ski tails go through is 150mm wide. Can't remember if I've used mine with my fat skis that are 130-106-120 but wouldn't expect that to be a problem.

 

[Electricwoman]

The hole where the ski tails go through is 150mm wide. Can't remember if I've used mine with my fat skis that are 130-106-120 but wouldn't expect that to be a problem.

Thanks marzNC! That's just the info I needed. My ski tails should slide through it, no problem.